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<REGINFO_RIN_DATA xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" RUN_DATE="2026-10-23-04:00" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/xml/REGINFO_XML_Ver10262011.xsd">
    <RIN_INFO>
        <RIN>0583-AB93</RIN>
        <PUBLICATION>
            <PUBLICATION_ID>199610</PUBLICATION_ID>
            <PUBLICATION_TITLE>The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions</PUBLICATION_TITLE>
        </PUBLICATION>
        <AGENCY>
            <CODE>0583</CODE>
            <NAME>Food Safety and Inspection Service</NAME>
            <ACRONYM>FSIS</ACRONYM>
        </AGENCY>
        <PARENT_AGENCY>
            <CODE>0500</CODE>
            <NAME>Department of Agriculture</NAME>
            <ACRONYM>USDA</ACRONYM>
        </PARENT_AGENCY>
        <RULE_TITLE>Elimination of Prior Approval Requirements for Establishment Drawings and Specifications, Facilities Equipment, and Certain Partial Quality Control Programs</RULE_TITLE>
        <ABSTRACT><![CDATA[The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the Federal meat and poultry products inspection regulations by removing current requirements for FSIS approval of facilities and equipment prior to their use in official establishments. Establishments would be held accountable for meeting existing regulations for facilities and equipment and for preventing conditions that would tend to adulterate meat, meat food, and poultry products. FSIS is also proposing to end its prior approval of most voluntary, plant-operated partial quality control (PQC) programs, which are used by establishments to control certain kinds of food processing and product characteristics. Establishments would be encouraged to develop and implement quality control programs without first receiving permission from the Agency to do so and without having to rely on Agency guidance in operating them.]]></ABSTRACT>
        <PRIORITY_CATEGORY>Other Significant</PRIORITY_CATEGORY>
        <RIN_STATUS>Previously Published in The Unified Agenda</RIN_STATUS>
        <RULE_STAGE>Final Rule Stage</RULE_STAGE>
        <MAJOR>No</MAJOR>
        <UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST>
            <UNFUNDED_MANDATE>No</UNFUNDED_MANDATE>
        </UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST>
        <CFR_LIST>
            <CFR>9 CFR 304</CFR>
            <CFR>9 CFR 308</CFR>
            <CFR>9 CFR 317</CFR>
            <CFR>9 CFR 318</CFR>
            <CFR>9 CFR 319</CFR>
            <CFR>9 CFR 381</CFR>
        </CFR_LIST>
        <LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>21 USC 451 et seq</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>21 USC 601 et seq</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
        </LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST>
        <RPLAN_ENTRY>Yes</RPLAN_ENTRY>
        <RPLAN_INFO>
            <STMT_OF_NEED><![CDATA[This action is being taken as part of the continuing Reinventing Government initiative to streamline and modernize the meat and poultry inspection regulations, to reduce reliance on command-and-control regulations in favor of science-based prevention measures and performance standards, and to encourage innovations that will improve food safety.]]></STMT_OF_NEED>
            <LEGAL_BASIS><![CDATA[Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 USC 601 et seq.) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 USC 451 et seq.), FSIS issues regulations governing the production of meat and poultry products prepared for distribution in interstate commerce. The Agency also issues regulations concerning the sanitation conditions under which such products are prepared.]]></LEGAL_BASIS>
            <ALTERNATIVES><![CDATA[Alternatives to removing requirements for facilities and equipment prior approvals include development by FSIS of detailed standards to be published in booklets with periodic updates, recognizing industry organizations as prior approval authorities, and establishing general performance standards similar to FDA-recognized good manufacturing practices. FSIS has chosen the option of proposing general performance standards. Industry would be free to set up technical assistance organizations. For PQC prior approvals, the alternatives to removing requirements were market sampling, mandating additional in-plant controls, sampling of finished products for chemical analysis, and general requirements, and a performance standard option was the one chosen.]]></ALTERNATIVES>
            <COSTS_AND_BENEFITS><![CDATA[Costs of this proposed rulemaking to the Agency and the regulated industry would be minimal because the rulemaking would remove administrative burdens. Benefits include annual current-dollar cost savings or avoidance to FSIS of nearly $3 million and to industry of at least $40,000 for blueprint submissions that are no longer required, plus additional, substantial uncalculated benefits because there would no longer be production delays arising from prior approval of facilities, equipment, and PQC programs.]]></COSTS_AND_BENEFITS>
            <RISKS><![CDATA[This rulemaking could induce reduced health and safety risks to the public by providing industry with additional flexibility to innovate, which the command-and-control approach of prior-approval regulation has not encouraged.]]></RISKS>
        </RPLAN_INFO>
        <TIMETABLE_LIST>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>NPRM</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>05/02/1996</TTBL_DATE>
                <FR_CITATION>61 FR 19578</FR_CITATION>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>NPRM Comment Period End</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>07/01/1996</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Comment Period Extended to</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>09/09/1996</TTBL_DATE>
                <FR_CITATION>61 FR 35990</FR_CITATION>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Final Action</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>02/00/1997</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
        </TIMETABLE_LIST>
        <RFA_REQUIRED>Yes</RFA_REQUIRED>
        <SMALL_ENTITY_LIST>
            <SMALL_ENTITY>Businesses</SMALL_ENTITY>
        </SMALL_ENTITY_LIST>
        <GOVT_LEVEL_LIST>
            <GOVT_LEVEL>None</GOVT_LEVEL>
        </GOVT_LEVEL_LIST>
        <PRINT_PAPER>NA</PRINT_PAPER>
        <INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST>Not Collected</INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST>
        <AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST>
            <CONTACT>
                <FIRST_NAME>Patricia</FIRST_NAME>
                <LAST_NAME>Stolfa</LAST_NAME>
                <MIDDLE_NAME>F.</MIDDLE_NAME>
                <TITLE>Assistant Deputy Administrator, Regulations and Inspection</TITLE>
                <AGENCY>
                    <CODE>0583</CODE>
                    <NAME>Food Safety and Inspection Service</NAME>
                    <ACRONYM>FSIS</ACRONYM>
                </AGENCY>
                <PHONE>202 205-0699</PHONE>
                <MAILING_ADDRESS>
                    <STREET_ADDRESS>Office of Policy, Program Development, and Evaluation,</STREET_ADDRESS>
                    <CITY>Washington</CITY>
                    <STATE>DC</STATE>
                    <ZIP>20250-3700</ZIP>
                </MAILING_ADDRESS>
            </CONTACT>
        </AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST>
        <REINVENT_GOVT>Eliminating Existing Text</REINVENT_GOVT>
    </RIN_INFO>
</REGINFO_RIN_DATA>
